Flank Steak is a great cut of meat to make fancy-looking roulade steaks! It is a fairly inexpensive cut of meat, and if cooked and sliced correctly – can be the centerpiece of an elegant or impressive meal! One version of a roulade made with flank steak, is Braciole… an Italian version stuffed with breadcrumbs [...]

Last month, I read a Chicago Tribune article that potentially revealed the KFC secret recipe of “11 herbs and spices”. A reporter sat down for an interview with the nephew of KFC’s “the Colonel”, and was shown a handwritten paper scrap in a family album that was most likely (by the nephew’s admission) the original [...]

Summer time weather calls for barbecue! But what do you do when it’s way too hot to go outside and actually tend to the grill? Crockpot ribs are the perfect solution – the ribs slow cook for several hours in a flavorful liquid, then you finish them in the oven! These also work great if [...]

One of my favorite ways to cook Bratwurst (a German sausage made of veal, pork, or beef) is to braise it with beer and sauerkraut. This recipe is adapted from my dad’s method for making pork chops, from back home in Austria. (If you don’t have Bratwurst, this is also a great way to make [...]

Happy Spring! Now that the season has started (and Easter is coming up) – I’m seeing rack of lamb for sale everywhere! This past weekend, our good friends invited us over for an impromptu dinner of pan-seared rack of lamb and lobster mashed potatoes. Yum! (It was so good – he seared the lamb in [...]

Now that Christmas is over, many of us have leftover prime rib sitting in the refrigerator. What to do with the leftover meat slices is easy… you can make french dip sandwiches, or just reheat and serve another meal of prime rib. But what about the rib bones and meat in-between (the rib plate that [...]

“Hambāgu“ (ハンバーグ) is a Japanese style Salisbury Steak. It is a ground meat patty made with onions, egg, panko breadcrumbs – pan fried and served with a gravy, typically over rice. (In Hawaii, add a fried egg and this dish becomes loco moco!) My favorite way to make Japanese Hamburger Steak is with Asian style fried [...]

With Thanksgiving over (even after giving away a ton of leftovers)… I still have quite a bit of turkey meat and stock in the refrigerator. (I make turkey stock every year from the leftover turkey carcass). We’ve now reached the point where we can no longer eat Thanksgiving leftovers without feeling bored… time to change [...]

In Italy, “piccata” is a method of preparing meat (typically veal) – the meat is sliced thinly or butterflied, tenderized, dredged in flour and cooked, then served in a sauce made from deglazed pan drippings. Here in the USA, the most well known version of this Italian dish is made with chicken and is served [...]

Steak Diane was a popular American dish back in the mid to late 20th century. This was a pan-fried steak (often prepared tableside) served in a sauce made of pan-juices and flambéed with brandy or cognac. These days, you don’t see Steak Diane on many restaurant menus… but it remains a delicious way to prepare [...]